The New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange appears to be one of the more flexible among the 17 states that have opted to run their own exchanges, according to a report by Georgetown University and The Commonwealth Fund.

New Mexico’s exchange doesn’t limit the number of plans that each insurer can offer, as do exchanges in nine other states, and it doesn’t require standardized plans, according to the study.

New Mexico’s exchange, though, still hasn’t determined how it will support itself financially, according to the report. Exchanges in seven states, including California, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon, have chosen to fund themselves through assessments on insurers that sell on the exchanges. The exchanges must be self-sustaining by 2015, the study added.

Connecticut’s exchange will fund itself by making assessments on all health insurers in the state even if they don’t sell on the exchange.

The exchanges are online marketplaces where companies and individuals can buy health insurance. They are supposed to be operational by Oct. 1.

Eight states have decided to provide businesses and individuals maximum flexibility by allowing them to choose any plan level offered by any insurer. New Mexico’s exchange still hasn’t decided how it will operate in that regard, the study said.

Five insurers — Lovelace Health Plan, Presbyterian Health Plan, New Mexico Health Connections, Molina Healthcare of New Mexico and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico — have applied to sell on the state’s exchange.

Initial rates filed by those insurers offer premiums that are about 5 percent above current rates.

The Society of Actuaries had predicted a 35 percent premium increase for individual plans in New Mexico under the Affordable Care Act.